


Time.

by E__E



Category: Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Drabble, Fluff, Fluffy drabble, Immortality Angst, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Angst, Pensive Magnus, malec drabble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-04
Updated: 2016-09-04
Packaged: 2018-08-12 21:26:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7949719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/E__E/pseuds/E__E
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A contemplative drabble on time, and what it means to Magnus.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Time.

He's lived so long that by now - he just stopped counting.  
How could you put a number on infinity anyways?

If you live forever - are you really old? Sure, you've been on a planet for over 400 years - that's a long fucking time.  
But if you can never die of old age, are you ever truly old?

Magnus doesn't know. He tries not to think about it. Thinking like that - it hurts.  
But he can't help it.  
Sometimes he wonders if he'll live long enough to see the end of the world.

At some points in his life, he thought the world **was** ending.  
He had bared witness to all the world's major catastrophes -  
The wrath of the conquistadors, The horror of the Atlantic slave trade, the absolute devastation of World War Two - and the list goes on and on.

War, love, peace, hate, heart break -  
He had seen and felt it all.

Mundanes were terrifying. And at times, even more so than anyone or anything in the shadow world.  
He'd learned that very early on.

And with his own origin story... It took him quite a while to truly make peace with what had happened. 

He hadn't settled to live in one place - not even once in his life. He was a free wheeler.  
But now, he felt content in New York.

He didn't know how to describe it, but out of all the countless places he'd lived, Brooklyn was his favorite.

Maybe it was the open mindedness of the mundanes here. So accepting, and willing to learn, grow.  
Maybe it was the art and the music - New York had such an enriched culture.  
Maybe it was being a High Warlock, fully recognized and respected. Living and thriving in the center of the down world.

Or maybe, it was Alexander.

 _Alexander_.  
How could Magnus even begin to describe him?  
Magnus had been in love many times.  
But Alexander was different.

For someone to be so young and so strong at the same time? It was more than admirable.

When Magnus first met Alexander,  
He saw someone born to be leader.  
He saw a warrior - so passionate and yet so reserved all at once.  
But he also saw the fear in Alexander's eyes - so much fear. A cry for help.

He saw a brave man putting up a front of cold indifference. Like when he pretending to be unfazed when his parabatai got all the credit.

Someone who throws away their personal needs in order to take care of other's - He just didn't care about his own well being. It was like he'd been taught not to care about himself.

  
And it broke Magnus's heart.

Magnus felt, and saw all of this in one night  
He never believed in love at first sight - infatuation at first sight, of course. But not love.

No, with Alexander, it wasn't love at first sight.  
But it was something at first sight... something akin to love.  
Just a need.  
Magnus **needed** to know Alexander.

Magnus thought back to the tender moment they shared, the second time they had met. 

_"You've unlocked something in me."_

He wasn't lying.

Alexander was still shy, even after a few months of dating. Magnus would never put pressure on him to open up, he needs time.  
And Magnus has all the time in the world.

It was still chaos - Valentine was still alive. Scheming, planing... But Magnus wasn't afraid this time around. No, not this time.  
All of his worries disappeared when Alexander so much as smiled at him.

He would often come by after a hunt or a mission, staying late into the night.  
They wouldn't have sex.  
They would just talk, and kiss, short, simple touches that meant everything.   
Magnus would make cocktails, Alexander pretended to enjoy them.  
It was so simple, and so healthy.

Despite Alexander's reserved spirit around groups, He could talk with Magnus for hours. It didn't matter what the subject was - whether it was serious or completely ridiculous. It was always interesting.

One time they had an hour long debate on whether the cream or the cookie was the better part of the Oreo.

And another time they discussed Magnus's immortality. It was always hard to talk about, but as time went on, it had become easier and easier. Alexander just understood.

Alexander reveled in the time they had together without worrying about what the future may bring.

Sometimes they would just sit in silence. Usually cuddling, and just enjoying the other's presence, without words.  
Magnus would sink into Alexander's arms, falling asleep to the sound of the soft beat of his heart.

Alexander would wake him up with a chaste kiss - which would turn into a mess of tongue and teeth, and Magnus would warp his arms around his neck, pulling, wanting more, more, more.

When Alexander wanted to stay for only one more hour, it would bleed into two, and then to three and, even to four... Until his phone finally rang and he was forced to leave.

The goodbye kisses were always the hardest - who knows what might happen to him between the time they would see each other again?

Time. Magnus, despite being immortal could never fully understand it. But he embraced it.

Any time he had with Alexander.

 


End file.
